It’s been a big week in the world of ticketing, with news that Vivendi (a France-based global entertainment and telecoms giant) has bought See Tickets, the UK’s second largest ticket seller and a major player in West End theatre, for the princely sum of £86m. Meanwhile, tickets have been flying out of the box office at the BBC Proms, which announced record attendances of over 300,000. Over at Regent’s Park Open Air theatre, they have announced a special ticketing scheme to celebrate next year’s London Olympics – for all performances between 25 July and 12 August 2012, tickets will be available for £20.12 if booked before the end of April 2012 Photograph: Alley Cat Productions/Brand X/Corbis
Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber (also a former owner of See Tickets, as it happens) has announced that The Phantom of the Opera will be licensed for school performances for the first time. Lloyd Webber’s company, the Really Useful Group, is to make it available for performance in schools and colleges in the UK and Ireland, along with one of his other greatest hits, Cats. It marks the first steps in opening up the Lord’s back catalogue for performances in the education sector – Whistle Down the Wind and Starlight Express are expected to follow soon
Photograph: Donald Cooper/Rex Features
The Ambassador Theatre Group is to become the first major theatre chain to screen cinema-style, projected video advertising before plays. A new campaign promoting Gordon’s Gin will be shown in a selection of its 39 venues nationwide. The company has also announced that it will be partnering with subsidised producing theatres across the country, including Bristol Old Vic and Manchester Royal Exchange, in a bid to create new British musicals and uncover the 'next Blood Brothers'. And if they’re anything like as depressing as that show, you might welcome a stiff gin afterwards Photograph: PR
Newcastle Theatre Royal reopened on Monday following a £4.9m refurbishment project that has seen a massive overhaul of its 1,300-seat auditorium. Originally opened in 1837 (making it 175 next year), the interior was destroyed by fire in the late 19th century, shortly after a performance of Macbeth. It reopened in 1901 with a new design by famous theatre architect Frank Matcham and the latest revamp has seen the auditorium revert to his Victorian plans, with a few 21st-century mod cons (disabled access, air conditioning) thrown in Photograph: Rory Gibson
Let’s hope the Theatre Royal will be using rechargeable batteries to power its brand spanking new equipment – green arts charity Julie’s Bicycle has just launched a campaign calling on theatres across the UK to switch to more environmentally-friendly power options. According to Julie’s Bicycle, hit musical Wicked has already made the switch – both on Broadway and in the West End. The show is saving thousands of pounds of a year, and is now even more green (ahem) than it was before Photograph: Linda Nylind
Not long before the Theatre Royal burnt down in Newcastle, Oscar Wilde was writing his final play, titled Constance. Well, he was if you take The King’s Head theatre in Islington’s word for it. The London fringe venue is staging what it bills as the ‘world premiere’ of Wilde’s final work, but its claim has not gone unchallenged. Merlin Holland, Wilde’s only grandson, isn’t entirely convinced, claiming it should have been described as 'a play based on an idea by Oscar Wilde, written in French by Guillot de Saix, translated into English and further adapted by Charles Osborne'. Although that wouldn’t look quite so snappy on the posters Photograph: Roger Viollet/Getty Images
Good news for dancers who have been foxtrotted, flamencoed or fandagoed off their feet. Injuries are a fact of life for performers working in the gruelling dance world, but at least they will now be able to get specialist treatment on the National Health Service. A clinic specialising in performance-related injuries has been launched at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital. The London-based service will be free at the point of access for dancers and available to all. It marks the first stage in Dance UK’s plans to create a National Institute of Dance Medicine and Science Photograph: Getty Images
